Are You A Prostitute?

At first glance at the title, you may think I mean:
Prostitute:  a person who engages in promiscuous sexual intercourse in exchange for payment (usually money)
However, that is not the case.  In this instance, I mean:
Prostitute:  a person who debases his or her talent(s) for payment (usually money)
We are all born with a gift, a talent.  Some of us are born with quite a few.  By using these talents, we can find a certain fulfillment in this life.  Not to mention help others in their lives.  The challenge is that most people do not consider their gifts as a gift.  See having a gift/talent is very different from discovering, appreciating and nurturing your gift/talent.  We tend to either sell ourselves short or give it all away for FREE.  This is where the act of prostitution comes in.
With ‘physical’ prostitution, a woman (or man) sells the use of her/his body for payment of some sort.  Usually the payment is money.  (In my opinion, there’s not enough money in the world that could truly compensate for a service such as this.  But that’s just my opinion.)  The ironic thing about prostitution is that it starts in/with the mind, not the body.  A prostitute has to mentally prepare to perform an act.  Ask any ‘pimp’ and they’ll tell you.  Once you get the mind, you can do anything with the body.   As a matter of fact, that is how most prostitutes are made.  The ‘pimp’ will shelter, feed and clothe the new prospect.  All the while, the ‘pimp’ makes sure that the new prospect feels indebted for the favors being given.  The ‘pimp’ will also be sure to remind the new prospect that no one, I mean no one else would ever be as good to or for them.  Once caught in the grip of the ‘pimp’ it’s hell to get out of.   And although prostitution can be quite lucrative, there are many risks involved.  One of those risks being life itself.
There’s not much difference with ‘spiritual’ prostitution.  It starts with your mindset as well.  We either believe we have no gift or that our gift is not worth very much.  The ‘pimp’ in this scenario is FEAR.  Fear keeps us from acknowledging our talent.  Fear keeps us from honoring our talent.  And fear keeps us from proper compensation for our talent.  Fear is like a deer blinded by the headlights of a vehicle.  It causes the inability to move and leaves us open to risk.  The risk of living an unfulfilled life.

‘Spiritual’ prostitution comes with risks as well.

The ‘pimp’ in this scenario can also be your family, your friends, your associates.  They shelter you, feed you and even clothe you with doubt, negativity and lack.  They teach you that you shouldn’t, you can’t or that you won’t ever be able to find anything better than the life of prostitution.  See how it works?  Control the mind, control the man. I’ll be the first to admit that….My name is J’licious  and I am a recovering prostitute.  I was born with gifts/talents that I did not recognize, honor or nurture .  I allowed my ‘pimp’ named FEAR to keep me from moving forward when my path was clearly laid before me.  I was afraid to take my gifts out of the box and share.  And when I finally decided to share them, I shared them with people who clearly did not appreciate them or me.  Those people  included my family, my friends, my lovers, and my business clients.
Ok, I’ve admitted my sordid past.  Now it’s your turn…..Are You A Prostitute?
Know your worth,
J-licious
© Copyright 2010/10/01  Jacque Keil All Rights Reserved

You Can Run, but You Can't Hide

“You often meet your destiny on the road you took to avoid it”

I’m not sure who pinned those words; however they hold true for me. For years I took the ‘easy’ road. Only to find that it led me right back to the ‘hard’ road. What I mean by ‘easy road’ is the path of denial and what I mean by ‘hard road’ is the path of acceptance and responsibility.

For years, I thought if I changed my job, my house, my car, even my geographical location, things would be different. The problem with this was although those things changed, I didn’t. I remained the same. I continued to take the easy road instead of standing still, taking notice of my life, and listening to the God within. It was not until there was nothing else for me to do that I finally looked within. I had changed jobs, houses, cars, and had even moved to a different state. And you guessed it, nothing seemed to change. I asked myself over and over again, now what? Then my answer came…the problem did not lie in where I worked, where I slept, what I drove, or even where I lived. The problem was in me. The necessary changing needed to happen within me.

So, I’ve begun to take the ‘hard road’. I’ve stopped denying my truths. I’ve taken off the blinders and looked myself straight in the eyes. I’m willing to face those issues that I need to deal with. Issues of self worth, procrastination, neediness (needing to be needed), they all came up with one glance in the mirror. To some this may sound as if I’m tearing myself down. Please know that in this process, you may have to tear down a few walls in order to erect a magnificent structure.

I’ve also learned that no matter how far and how fast I run, I can’t outrun myself. I lie down with me every single night. I wake with myself every single day. I go along my day with me. There is no getting away from me. There is no amount of liquor, or drugs, or sex, or food or whatever the addiction that can keep me away from me. And if I do not like being in the presence of me, then there are somethings I might want to at least consider improving. I’m not going to say/write that this will be easy; however, I can say self discovery, self improvement, self empowerment is soooooo worth it.

Stop running, stand still and discover who you are. Find your -licious.

J-licious

Recession Confession

I keep hearing the word recession, recession, recession. So many of us want to ‘blame’ the recession for whatever is going on in our lives. I guess we NEED something to blame because it just can’t be us. It can’t be how we have chosen to spend our money and not save. It can’t be how we continue to live above our means just so we can compete with the Jones’. It can’t be that we chose to remain at a job that is unsatisfying and unfulfilling. Of course, that can’t be it. It has to be the recession. I say…..bullshit.

I recently received an email from a client letting me know that because of the recession, he was unable to continue in our business relationship. I must admit, my first thought was to lower my fee. I felt that in doing so, I could ‘help him through the recession’. Then I realized that my thoughts were foolish. Let me give you some background on my relationship with this client.

When we first started in 2006, he was collecting anywhere from $100k-$150k per year. At the end of 2007, he had collected near $500k. At the end of 2008 he had collected $1,507,862.36. Now the question comes to mind….how is it that he is affected by the recession and in turn now I am affected by the recession? Why would I reduce my fee when I have helped increase his insurance collections by 566%? Am I so desperate that I do not see the value of my services? Has this ‘recession thing’ gotten to me that I would be fearful of losing a client? Now on to my recession confession…

During the 3 years that my client and I were in this relationship, I became ‘comfortable’. I saw the increase in his numbers, consider what would be the increase in my numbers and became comfortable. I did not advertise nor market my services to potential clients. I just worked and worked and worked to build HIS business without taking any time to build MY business. The key is to have enough business that when one client leaves, you do not even notice it. The savvy business owner takes into consideration that clients leave and they are prepared to replace them without missing a beat. My confession….up until now, I have not been that savvy business owner. I have been nothing more than a glorified employee. Yes, I can set my own hours. Yes, my schedule is flexible. However, I have yet to establish my financial foundation. I am still building on shaky ground.

The great thing about this experience is that I have taken the time to step back, reevaluate my life and my business. I get the opportunity to rebuild and restructure. This is my recession confession, what’s yours?

In Love,

J-licious

Intentional Millionaire

If you’ve read any of my earlier blogs, you would know how full my life is. I am a mother of 3 boys (ages 19, 18 and 12). I am self-employed (life coach, real estate and medical consulting). This house is crazy and I am beginning to feel the effects. Good thing it’s an organized ‘crazy’ or I would really be in trouble. Now to top it off, I have just been asked to merge my consulting company with a software company. This merger would mean more business and more money. However, with more of those things comes more responsibility. Now to the title of this blog.

About 2-3 months ago I was talking with a friend about my consulting business. I talked about how I wanted to take it to the next level. About how I was starting to feel that things were starting to come to a standstill. I wanted to somehow get things moving. The issue I had with that was it would take money to do what I wanted. And right now, I can not see where I could afford to do it. So I sent my intentions out into the Universe and let go.

About a week ago, I received a call from a company who was looking for someone with my experience. He wanted to know if I would be interested in speaking with him to see if perhaps we could make something happen. My first thoughts were, Thank you God. Thank you Universe for listening to me. My second thought…let’s make things happen. We met this week and it seems that this venture would be a win-win situation. I am bubbling over with excitement about the possibilities. During my meditation, Spirit spoke to me about my thoughts of the ‘possibilities’. Spirit let me know that those possibilities were always there…even when I thought I did not have the finances to make the next step. Spirit let me know that I am powerful beyond imagination. Spirit let me know that I already have everything I need. I just need to set my ‘Intention’ and let go.

The next morning after my conversation with Spirit, I checked the mailbox. Sitting in my mailbox was a package addressed to me from Fran Harris Enterprises. If you have never heard about Fran, please do yourself a favor and check her out on the web at www.franharris.com. She is an exceptional speaker and personal coach. She has started the ‘100 Women Millionaires’ club and it’s taking the world by storm. When I heard about her a year ago, I knew I had to be a part of it. I am so glad that I accepted the challenge.

Back to the mailbox. In the mailbox was her new book, The Intentional Millionaire. Now imagine what I felt when I saw the title. My spirit had just spoken to me about setting my intentions and then I receive her book. I took a glance at some of the chapters and knew this was the book for me. She has woven the importance of spirituality and finances together. How perfect!

Many people will not admit that they have a relationship problem with money. So many people don’t even KNOW they have a relationship problem with money. And they definitely don’t see where spirituality and finances are tied together. My thought about it all….EVERYTHING is spiritual…even money. I took this book as an answer to some of my questions concerning money. As I begin to read the book, a ‘good’ feeling came over me. Like I was taking control of my finances again. This caused me to remember another part of the conversation with Spirit. The part about the power that I have to create whatever it is I want. I can create abundance as well as scarcity. Anyway I want it, I can have it. It’s up to me. Just like it’s up to you. Whatever you desire, you can have and it’s all up to you. Set your intentions and let go.

In Love,

J-licious

Are Relationships Hard?

There are times when I get really really busy in my consulting business. So, I decided to contract with a local community college to allow their students to perform their internship in my office. Now this has it’s ups and downs. The ups…free labor. The downs…free labor. However, I do get the opportunity to meet new people. And at times, it can be refreshing.
One of the ex terns is young, married, mother of one son and seven months pregnant with her daughter. She came to me and asked, “Are relationships always this hard, or do we just make them hard?”. Beautiful question, I replied. My answer to her question…we make them hard.

I have heard so many people say that love is hard. I totally and completely disagree. Love is easy. It’s all of our baggage that causes it to seem hard. If we could go back to being a child to being innocent, we would understand this much better. I believe we would find the essence of love. No matter how many times we were told no, we still loved. It wasn’t until we started to take the word no personally that things begin to change. We started to feel neglected or even rejected. A feeling we felt came from someone we loved…our parents, siblings, friends. And now that we are adults, the word no carries so much negativity. Instead of accepting what is, we sulk. We become hurt and angry.

Allow me to share a personal story with you. I met this guy several years ago. He was charming, intelligent and well spoken. All of which are immediate turn-ons for me. He seemed to be saying all of the things I wanted to hear. We lived in different cities, so in the beginning we didn’t see each other very often. I was okay at first. Then I wanted a little more. Well, with the wanting more of his time came more of an understanding. He explained that he was currently in a relationship but was…..you guessed it ‘unhappy’. I figured it was ok. We were just friends so what was the big deal. So I continued to see him. We spent more and more time together. Now here comes the part where things become personal. The part where I allow my emotions to take over.

All along I had feelings that things were not quite ‘right’ for me. Remember my ‘Thoughts Become Things’ post? Then the call came…I need to take a break he says. I need to sort things out. I thought to myself well, that’s it. It was fun while it lasted. Then I started to realize that it was NOT fun. It’s been crazy almost the entire time. I just kept making excuse after excuse as to why it was ‘okay’ to remain in a relationship that was not working for me. It was not hard to see that, I just refused to see it. Although his words said, I want to continue to see you; his actions were saying just the opposite. Now I can’t hear what he says because what he does screams so loudly. Hey if it looks like a duck…walk likes a duck…quacks like a duck…AFLACK! (Thanks MaDear, Tyler Perry)

So when the ex tern asked me about relationships being hard, it was so easy to answer. No, relationships are not hard. People tell you who they are from the very beginning. We just have to be open enough to hear what they have to say. If we can learn to accept things and people as they are and not as we would like for them to be, then we are on the road to discovering that relationships are not hard. They are beautiful…every single one of them. Even the ones we feel were the most difficult have their own gifts. Sometimes hidden, but trust me the gifts/blessings are there.

The question to ask is….do I want to remain in this relationship? And if I do, what am I willing to do to remain in the relationship? Who am I willing to become?

Here’s to redefining ALL of your relationships,

In Love,
J-licious

Harmonic Wealth

I recently revisited the material written and taught by James Arthur Ray. His perspective on ‘Harmonic Wealth’ is right on point and the inspiration I needed to create this blog. There are five (5) pillars that create and support Harmonic Wealth. The pillars are:

Financial Pillar

Relational Pillar

Mental (including intellect and emotions) Pillar

Physical Pillar

Spiritual Pillar

Now close your eyes, and visualize these as pillars. If any one of them is weak, you will start to fall apart either bit by bit or all at once. And you can’t strengthen yourself by reinforcing the stronger pillars. Instead, you must strengthen the weak ones. So many people have a misconception of balance. You can’t possibly create absolute strength in all pillars at all times. Just think, if everything is in balance , nothing happens…..absolutely nothing. Therefore, you’ll need to work on different pillars at different times in your life.

I have created this blog with the intention to offer some assistance with the task of developing those areas when needed. Not in the way of a ‘guru’ or ‘philosopher’, but in a way of an exceptional person like yourself. Notice I didn’t say ‘normal’ or ‘average’. I am just like you…..a spiritual being having a human experience. And because of that humanness there are times when we could use some spiritual encouragement.

It is my desire to give and to receive that which we all long for….unconditional love, acceptance and understanding.

In Love,

J-licious

King of Kings and the King of Pop

What does Jesus and Michael Jackson have in common you say? More than you can imagine. I recently read on line that at least a dozen (12) people have committed suicide because of Michael Jackson’s death. I couldn’t believe it. I thought to myself, this can’t be true. This has got to be one of those ‘rumor’ things. As I continued to research I found the same information. Yes, 12 people have killed themselves because Michael Jackson has died. This information gave me cause to think. What other person has been the source of people ‘given’ up their lives? You guessed it……Jesus.

I understand that people have many different views about Jesus (just as they do about MJ). Some believe him to be God-incarnate. Others believe Jesus to be the Son of God. Others believe Jesus to be a prophet, not God not a god, but a man. Then there’s MJ. Some consider him an icon. Others see him as a brilliant artist and musician. Others see him as disturbed…a freak. Remember the label “Wacko Jacko”? My goal in this post is not to persuade one way or the other. It’s not to agree or disagree. My desire is to cause you to take an intimate look at yourself. To find within you those things that you find so appealing in the previously mentioned persona’s.

Too often people live vicariously through another. Instead of becoming the powerful being that they are, they choose to spectate, while others are out there living it. Why do you think so many people are obsessed with celebrities? Even during the time that Jesus walked this planet, people were more comfortable with following him and dying ‘for’ him than becoming a trailblazer just as he was. And now in our time, people are doing the same. They are willing to die ‘for’ MJ than to take his great works to the next level.

As a child, a teenager and young adult, I spent a great deal of time in church. I was forced to go as a child and a teenager and felt it was my ‘duty’ to go as an adult. One of the common themes for most churches is that God is up there and you , well you are somewhere down here. That never quite sat well with me. So I decided to get a better understanding for myself. Proverbs 4:7 (KJV)…”Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

II Timothy 2:15 (KJV) reads….”Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” And that is exactly what I began to do in my adulthood. I started to read for myself and not just listen to what others were saying. I began to read not just the Bible, but other books and information as well. You will never guess what I began to realize.

In my pursuit of understanding, I found that Jesus advised that not only was he powerful beyond measure, so are we. Take a moment to read the following scriptures…Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, John 14:12 (all KJV). I will leave the reading and interpretation of those scriptures to you. However, what I received from them was that if I could somehow begin to believe in myself then I could do the same as and even greater works than Jesus himself. He said so. Now just imagine this for you. Imagine that within you lies a power so great that you could move mountains, just by speaking. No pushing, no shoving, no breaking your back, not even breaking a sweat. Just by believing in the power within and speaking your truth.

Just as we have the power of Jesus within, we have the same creative ability as Michael Jackson. Now, I’m not saying that you can moon walk all over a stage or go around grabbing your crotch, but I am saying that you can create for yourself an empire. You can create the life you dream of. You can be the next person who sets this world on fire. All you have to do is go within, find your ‘licious’ self, believe, and work it out.

In love,
J-licious